Phakamani Mahlambi inspired the South African Under-23 side to a 1-0 win over Tunisia to reach the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament on Friday night.
The top three teams in the Eight Nations competition will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and now South Africa are just one step away from making it to Brazil. South Africa needed just a draw on Friday to go through to the playoffs.
Wits’ 18-year-old star midfielder Mahlambi was surprisingly left on the substitutes’ bench by SA U23 coach Owen da Gama at the Caroline Faye Stadium in M’Bour, Senegal, with Siphelele Ntshangase preferred to start.
And it resulted in the South Africans’ lacking the attacking punch in midfield that they had in previous games with Mahlambi present, as his eye-catching speed and skill had troubled the Senegalese and Zambian defences.
But when Mahlambi was eventually brought on for Siphelele Ntshangase in the 62nd minute, it sparked the South Africans’ revival. Suddenly they looked like threatening the Tunisian goal, with much more movement on attack from captain Keagan Dolly, Menzi Masuku and Gift Motupa.
Mahlambi had the speed across the ground to attract defenders when he didn’t have the ball, while he was also a handful to stop when in possession.
The decisive goal came in the 85th minute, when Mahlambi received the ball about 15 metres outside the Tunisian penalty area. He put on the jet-shoes and surged past three defenders to get inside the box and square the ball brilliantly for Masuku, who just had to walk the ball into the net.
It would’ve come as a massive relief to coach Da Gama, as the Tunisians dominated for most of the game. Their attacking unit of Nader Ghandri, Khaldoum Mansour and Ali Abd impressed with their agility and physicality, but they missed a number of chances on goal.
Apart from Mahlambi, the other South African hero on the night was goalkeeper Jody February. The Ajax Cape Town youngster showed great awareness and nimbleness to keep the Tunisians at bay. His finest save of the night came around the 70th minute mark, when he turned a Ghandri close-range header around the post to keep the score at 0-0.
The South Africans looked good on occasion when they had possession, but spent too much time passing the ball around the halfway line instead of attacking the Tunisians.
There was even some showboating from some players, and that will need to be stamped out by Da Gama if his team are going to advance to the final.
The one time they had a shot on goal, Dolly produced a rasping free kick in the 25th minute that looked like it was hitting the back of the net, but Tunisian keeper Sabri Ben Hsa got a vital touch to push the ball over the crossbar.
South Africa qualify in second spot from Group A with Senegal, while Group B will be decided on Saturday, with the winner of the Algeria-Nigeria clash (both four points) guaranteed of making the semi-finals. They could also play to a draw to ensure that Egypt (two points), who face Mali on Saturday, cannot progress.
@IndyCapeSport